Willow712's Comments (229)

“I enjoyed your article. lol, my Mom always thought salt was a spice. She once used sage in dressing but it was too strong for her, haha. My Mom could bake like a Wonder Woman, pies, cookies, cream puffs, cake, strudels, etc. but her vegetable soup consisted of vegetables, overcooked meat, and water. And we loved it. She loved to bake, she didn't really like to cook meals. But every night when my Dad came home from work, there was a meal on the table.

Every afternoon when I came home from school, she would ask me, " What sounds good for supper?" And if we had it in the fridge, we'd get what we asked for. With the ever present mashed potatoes, we'd have spaghetti (sauce from a can) or goulash or hamburgers. Those were good years.”

“A Fundamentalist Extremist is dangerous, whether its Muslim or Christian. Taliban.”

“Except for my next door neighbor, who adamantly argues that WWF is really a wrestling group and it IS real. And when one weird guy and another wrestling weird guy are getting ready to match up and they fight running down the aisles, my neighbor is convinced that these guy sjust could not control themselves, because they are so ready to fight. lol. I bet he is part of the 26%.”

“We all know that POTUS has a lot of people around him, advising him of proper protocol. I am sure they discussed it all at length. And I think Obama was making a point. That we are all part of the same world, and the POTUS is no different than anyone else, and different customs mean different things. I can see an adviser saying, "you know what the Repubs are going to do." And a twinkling eyed Obama saying, "Sure, I do." Not one POTUS has gone to foreign countries without someone helping them with protocol. Its not as if an uneducated black man did something outside protocol. He knew what he was doing, and had been advised, I am sure. Just as GWB knew to hold hands with the Saudis, their protocol advisers know what may or may not happen. And advise them appropriately. I love the way heads exploded when they saw the photos.”

“I agree. And give every woman of childbearing age the opportunity to take a vitamin that includes folic acid, so there will be a major decrease in spina bifida babies. WIC for all pregnant women that are low income (I think that's happening now?). In NY state, a woman on AFDC automatically gets food stamps for two when pregnant.”

“I am the 27th gr granddaughter of William the Conqueror through Sir William Thornton on my paternal side. . On the statue dedicted to his knights, at the very bottom is a knight last name "Wyard." (which is a ancestor name on my Mom's side) I have two first cousin marriages in the last four generations. Now, if I could just find the Native American connection (next to impossible, I guess).”

“Now I haven't been following the intricacies of the Afghanistan war, but weren't we chasing down Al Qaeda? The Taliban, aren't they mostly fighting to get rid of us, the invaders? Why don't we announce the bounty on the heads of Al Qaeda, and move out. They will work hard to get that money, because the tribal counsels with the most money are stronger. The Taliban are not loyal to Al Qaeda, they are only loyal to their tribal counsels. So announce the bounties on the leaders of Al Qaeda, and move out. Watch them fight it out themselves. This is an ongoing war, just like Vietnam was. Its definitely time to get the heck out of there.”

“Thank you Sen. Sanders. I wish we could clone you! We would put in an order for 99 of the clones. I greatly respect your ideas.”

“I disagree. There is a whole lot of American Ingenuity out there. If we can help small businesses, get at the very least, public option health care reform (single payer would be better) where we can be competitive, the businesses , small to start out, will be everywhere. We have the internet, American knowhow, and all these people that are unemployed, if they could afford health care, and the Govt. didn't tax them out of business, people would be making all kinds of things to sell! We would need to lighten up on zoning laws, allow home businesses, and govt, small business loans. This country would be moving! And larger corporations would be having difficulty finding workers, because they'd all be working for themselves.”

“My Grandfather, back in the '30s had six children, and no work around where they lived (In Iowa). The CCC came in, they tiled all of the fields in Iowa. It was hard work back then, because they didn't have the machines they have now. Those tiles are still being used today. The tiles drain the water out of the fields so that its not swampy. He supported a wife and six children on his earnings working for the CCC.”

“When we had gas lines back in the 70s, Brazil decided to go completely oil free within so manydecades. They started making cellulosic ethanol, using natural gas, etc. And now their cars run on ethanol (biofuels) or natural gas. We could do that too, it doesn't cost that much to convert the autos. Cellulosic ethanol can't be made by corn, it takes too much oil to make it. But sunflowers, certain grasses, etc. are excellent and can be grown in this country. Natural gas is underneath us all the time and we wouldn't run out of natural gas for centuries. Algae also has been used to make oil. We have all this empty land, useless in the southwest, because they took away their water rights. We could grow oil there, along with solar, etc. Wave machines in the ocean. There are a lot of potential things to do.”

“Make me one too for Iowa.”

“If they did not mandate insurance coverage for all, all the fairly healthy people would wait until they got sick, then go down to their local insurance store and buy coverage. They could wait for decades to need insurance, then get insurance when sick. Nobody would buy insurance, since there are going to be no more pre existing conditions. You could get cheap insurance in a minute, after seeing your Doctor. That's why we have to mandate insurance for everyone. Just as we need coverage for autos, we can't go down and buy insurance AFTER the accident.”

“I agree. For a large percentage of this country, if you had a secure home, retirement funds, and a decent job when you get sick, I can guarantee you that you won't have any of this when you're done.”

“Well, you can't get chemo in the ER. Sure, my surgeon has said he never turns anyone away that actually needs surgery. But after he does his surgery, his office manager gets the paperwork. People get sued for their care all the time. People that need specialized care don't get it in the ER. I am sure an oncologist, most go into the specialty because they want to help people, would willingly help someone needing care. But if you have a house, a car, money in the bank, I can guarantee you that you won't have these items in a few years, after the courts give a judgment against you. Your credit would be shot, your retirement is gone, you'd have to sell your house. Even tho you had insurance, expected it to cover you when you were ill, and found out that it just doesn't take care of you.

It would be similar if you had good house insurance. And had a big hailstorm. And when the insurance adjuster comes to your house, he announces that your insurance is now cancelled, due to the fact that you filed a claim.”

“You are lucky they didn't ask for the money up front. Lots of surgeries, etc. they want proof that you can pay it first.”

“They are going to assist people who cannot afford health care, by paying the premiums or a large part of the premiums . Obama's plan is that people want insurance, just can't afford it. If they make it affordable, why wouldn't you want it? Unless you were young, healthy and didn't want to pay it. Just like auto insurance, except if you can't afford auto insurance, you just sell the car. In this case, if you can't afford health insurance, they will help you with premium costs.”

“If they get enough calls, and they fear not getting re elected, they may possibly compromise , fearing losing votes. So you all should make two calls each. That' would ensure that they are worried about their constituents.

Even on medicare, the Repubs fought it. But when the Repubs began to see the percentage of their constituents that really wanted it, they began to come over to the medicare side. Even if just so they would get re elected, at least they listened.”

“Well, I WAS going to go to bed. I cannot go to bed with this as my last thought, or I'll have nightmares all night long.”

“Rep.Grayso­n, will you please move to Northwest Iowa and kick Rep. Steve King out of his position? I would dearly love to have you in Iowa. We actually need 50 or 60 of you in different states of the U.S. We could clone ya.”

“Obama got the camp that his grandfather freed wrong (I thought my Dad's cousin died on the USS Arizona, it was the Oklahoma), but HRC was talking about dodging gun shots when they landed. There is a big difference there. I voted for Pres. Obama, hoping he was more of a leftist, he's more centrist, darn it. The Present administration will be noted in history. While I wish he were more assertive, I still have a lot of hope that he will be the President we need at this time in our country.”

“They have found a genetic reason for male homosexuality. I don't know about lesbian reasons, but it would appear that a gay male has a gene to be attracted to other men. Which would sound like he was a throwaway, right? Well, it seems that females that are sisters to this gay male are also heavily attracted to men. Which means in theory, that they have more sex, therefore, more children. So the gay males genes are passed on through his sisters. It increases the number of children born to that family. So in an evolutionary sense, it is an advantage to have a gay male, that means your family will be bigger and not die out through history. So be proud, you, just by being born, have contributed to the future of the family (at least until birth control came around, lol).”

“I have a good friend that worked for many years in a college near our town. She also had wonderful insurance. She got breast cancer, and they didn't cancel her insurance. They let her go. That wonderful health pool insurance seems to be there for fairly healthy people. At this college, people that become chronically ill have a way of being let go for strange reasons. Its happened perhaps ten times in the past two years. The local joke is "is a colonoscope enough to get you fired?" "how about a gall bladder?" "Cancer? better start packing your office."

They have a coop of insurance that is for healthy people.”

“Oh I like this statement:

I am aware of all the Bible verses conservatives cite in opposition to homosexuality, and I am also aware that there is more than one way to look at each one of those verses. If we believe that the Spirit continues to guide the church in the interpretation of scripture, as was done with respect to slavery and the status of women, then we have to consider the possibility that the Spirit is speaking today, as the hearts and minds of so many people at so many levels of Bible scholarship no longer read those verses as a blanket condemnation of same-sex relationships, or as a reason to deny committed, faithful couples a blessing on their marriage.

I hope you have a long and happy marriage.”

“I once had a neighbor that was an accountant. She was on the original social security board. She must be over 100 now and still alive. She said that originally social security was to be a safety net for the poor. If one made a certain amount of money per year, you were not supposed to get social security. It was like "commodities for the poor." You just didn't get it if you didn't need it. Whatever happened to that idea? My Father, who invested during his lifetime, made more in interest every year than I made working every year. And he collected social security too.”